Initially, I couldn't watch this show due to the graphic nature and heavy topic. But as I watched a few more, it became almost an educational show for me. It's fascinating to realize just how fragile life is and the simple ways lack of health or exposure to accidents, assaults, or toxins can change the trajectory of life on a dime.
Dr. G is one of those one-in-a-million people who works in a niche industry and has the ability to relate her findings in a way that is articulate and personable. I have to wonder whose idea it was to produce such a show and imagine NCIS's Ducky may have had some influence. Her high-pitched vocalizing isn't always easy on the ears but in many ways she feels like someone we might know and trust.
They drag it out quite a bit as most reality shows do - could it be this; could it be that; who is to blame... But most times the answer is a surprise to the viewer.
I'll glad they don't actually show the dead bodies and autopsies, that would be too graphic. The reenactments are sufficiently difficult to watch. As well, there are laws against showing dead bodies on tv and to get permission would mean going through a lengthy process per autopsy.
But for those saying the family photos are actors - you're wrong about that. In the show itself, there is a tag when it's a reenactment that says Dramatization. Everything else is actual.
Not all MEs are responsive. When my mother died of cancer, the COD said the cause was complications of a pelvic fracture with secondary cause being cancer. This puzzled me for years and I never got a response from the very young ME. I've read that cancer deaths are hidden under secondary causes, which I still believe and believe that's what happened to my mother. But in one episode where Dr. G explains how elderly who break hips can have a series of events from it, I was able to understand why the rookie ME put that as COD. However, my mother was ravaged by late stage pancreatic cancer (or more specifically, theradiation destryed her insides) and had just days to live when she created an unexpected situation for herself by trying to walk over to adjust a small heater. She slipped in her socks and fractured her pelvis. While the hospice nurse called the emergency doctor, my mother called a neighbor for sympathy who misunderstood and thought she was home alone and needed help. They called 911 and the police were the1st responders who thought she was immaciated from neglect and rushed her to the hospital where they treated her only for the fracture. By the time we got her back, she lived for only 3 more hours. We had just gotten her back from a hospice facilty so she could die at home - her request - when this happened. It made me understand fully why some families opt to not have medical personnel involved at all when they know they have a fatal illness.
Any hoo, I've learned a lot from Dr G and find it one of the most unique shows ever. She humanizes the process.
